A Year With No Victor
by DustWriter
Summary: Destined to fall in love, but under the cruelest circumstances. The world's best-known tragedy as played out in the Arena.


_I apologize for my delay in postings; I'm working on some very long fics and two original works. In thanks for your patience, this is a one-shot in response to two reader requests: a Romeo & Juliet theme and Katniss as a Career._

_That's about all that should be said here, but please remember – and I hope this isn't a spoiler - Romeo & Juliet is a tragedy._

_Thank you, Darkened Ruby, for your inspiration and guidance._

**A Year With No Victor**

It was the first time since the Reaping he'd forgotten to be afraid.

She was standing by her District partner, a brutish hulk called Cato. He was smirking as the small boy from District Three struggled to lift the heavy spear from the display. Her grey eyes were narrowed in concentration. He saw her tracking the red-haired girl from District Five as she quickly darted back and forth between obstacles on the track; nimble as a fox.

Her eyes met his.

It was like a flash of lightning followed by a quiet, gentle rain. As though he'd been waiting to meet her. As though it was planned. She stared. Her lips parted as though she was going to offer an unnecessary apology for keeping him waiting. His mouth twitched; he wanted to smile.

"I'd shoot her right between her pretty little eyes."

His stomach churned as Clove came to stand next to him. He stared at her in disgust.

He'd never spoken to her before; she was a Seam girl who hated Merchant kids with unmatched zeal. He knew because it was the first thing she'd said to him as they boarded the train for the Capital.

"I'll kill you, Merchant," she had told him. "If it comes to it. Better find another way to die."

He decided he did not want to train with her. Haymitch agreed wholeheartedly.

Cato nudged the grey-eyed girl. "Katniss, you're up."

She glanced again towards the fair-haired boy from District Twelve. She walked to the knives that had been laid out in ceremonial glory. She selected each blade carefully, grasping them between her fingers, four in each hand. He thought it looked like her hands had been crowned.

She stood like a statue facing the target. Her arms sliced the air like a dove's wing, and then in the blink of an eye eight blades surrounded the heart of the dummy. Cato whistled and clapped. The cruel beauty and sneering boy from District One nodded their approval. The girl called Katniss glanced back again before returning to her fellow Careers.

"Peeta Mellark, District Twelve."

The training coordinator called him forward. He focused on the weighted ball on the floor. He hoped it wasn't more than 100 pounds. He didn't want to drop it in front of her. His eyes flitted back to her for a moment. Cato caught his eye and laughed at him as he stepped up to the distance line.

The ball was less than 100 pounds, but not by much. Just enough that it flew in a perfect arc and took the head off the target dummy.

Cato stopped laughing.

Peeta tried not to smile. But she let a small smile slip and he had to turn away because he couldn't help himself.

* * *

"Who is the girl from Two?" he asked Haymitch. "Where did she learn knives?"

"She's a Career." Haymitch shrugged. "Does it matter? She's there to kill you."

Peeta tried to remember that. "Can you find me any information?"

"Why?"

"I think she'd make a good ally. For food." he stumbled.

Haymitch eyed him. "I'll see what I can find out."

* * *

Haymitch was waiting for him when they returned from training the next day. Clove noisily complained she hoped the meat for dinner wasn't so overcooked today; she preferred it bloody. Peeta gagged and pulled his Mentor aside.

"She's not available for allying."

"What? Why?" Peeta asked.

"She's with the Careers," Haymitch told him. "The One and Two Mentors flat out refused to take on outlying Districts. According to them, you'd be a liability."

Peeta shook his head. "I guess it doesn't matter," he mumbled. "I'm going to die."

Haymitch surprised him by grabbing his shoulders roughly. "You don't know that! You're stronger and faster than those overfed Careers. You can get away and keep away."

"Clove will murder me."

Haymitch turned to see if she was safely out of earshot. "Stay away from her." He looked guilty as he dropped his voice. "You could break her neck as soon as she steps off the platform."

Peeta felt the nausea return. "I can't do that."

"She'd do it to you."

"I know." He looked up at his Mentor. "You know she has a better chance of surviving."

"I do. But that doesn't mean I have to like it." he muttered. He looked down at the forlorn young man in his charge. Peeta thought he saw a flash of fear in his eyes. He thought of his father.

Haymitch released him. "I need a drink."

* * *

She was alone at the fire starting station.

Peeta glanced at where Cato and the girl named Glimmer flirted shamelessly among the terrified children learning to fight with little hope of survival. He slipped over to her side. She was struggling with the kindling. He was struggling with words.

"If you use some dried leaves or moss it'll catch faster." He winced. It wasn't at all what he had wanted to say first.

"Oh." Her eyes were on his. He felt warm, as though wrapped in a comforting blanket. "Thank you."

"May I show you?"

She paused. He saw her eyes flicker over the "12" emblem on his sleeve. "Yes."

He sat with her. He wound the leaves with the sticks. She struck the flint. It ignited. She smiled at the spark. She smiled at him.

"Twelve. That's coal?"

He nodded. "But I work in the bakery. With my family."

She stared at the flame thoughtfully.

"What do you do? In Two?"

"Me?"

"What does your family do?"

"I live in the Home."

He must have shown his confusion on his face. "The Community Home," she explained to the fire.

"Oh." His chest hurt. "Is that why you volunteered?"

She shrugged ambivalently. "Yes. And no." She looked at him. "If I win, I can leave the Home. I can take my brother with me. And if I lose," she paused, "I lose."

He couldn't answer. "Why did you volunteer?" she asked.

"I didn't."

"Oh." She waited. "I prefer it." She looked at him. "To have the choice."

He smiled ruefully. "I'd choose not to die."

She surprised him with a laugh. "Wouldn't we all?"

"What the hell is this?"

Cato loomed over Peeta. Katniss climbed to her feet hastily. "He was teaching me fires."

"He's from an outlier."

"He knows fires."

Cato took her hand and yanked her back to Glimmer and the boy named Marvel. Her eyes left Peeta's.

"Trying to get some tail before you kick it?" Clove's sneer was behind him. He spun to her snide giggle. "Should've gone to the slag heap like the rest of us."

"You're fourteen," he choked in horror.

"And I'm not going to die a lovesick puppy." she smiled coldly. She turned and the quiver on her back rattled like a snake.

* * *

He sat with the tiny bird-like girl from District Eleven when Clove refused to take breaks with him. Rue was nervously talkative and desperate to feel cheery. He decided he liked her.

"You like music?" he repeated what she'd told him.

She nodded.

"I do too," he smiled. "I wish we sang more at home."

"I like to sing," Rue chirped. Her shoulders sagged. "I wished we could sing for our demonstration today. I can't do much fighting."

"You don't have to fight to win," he told her. "Remember about a few years ago? They flooded the arena and the girl from District Four only had to swim to survive. You might be too young..."

"I heard about her. Annie." Rue remembered. She looked fretful. "I can't swim."

He smiled gently. "Not swimming. They won't do that again. But what if it comes to climbing trees? You'd leave us all behind."

She looked a little less fearful when they called her into the Demonstration Room.

* * *

The night air was cold on the rooftop, but he didn't mind. Tomorrow might be his last day alive. He wanted to feel anything, even if it was cold.

He watched the traffic and revelers in the streets below. None of their children had ever died far from home, alone and hungry. He wondered where his brothers were that night. Were they sitting on the roof above the sign advertising pastries? Were they thinking about him?

The shuffle of the slipper on the concrete brought his eyes to her.

He thought she might be glowing at first. The lights of the streets reflected on her skin and were mirrored in her eyes. He felt the smile grow involuntarily. He wondered if he should be nervous. But she didn't make him nervous. She made him feel alive.

She paused for a moment, clearly thinking she shouldn't stay. But she did stay.

She sat next to him on the ledge to the street.

"I didn't know the stairwell led all the way down," he finally said. "To the second floor."

"I don't think Tributes are usually tempted to visit one another," she smiled.

"I wasn't thinking of visiting Cato."

She laughed. It faded quickly.

A long stretch of time passed. He felt like they had been there together forever.

"You couldn't come anyway," she looked at him. "Even if you were from One, my Mentor would not allow it."

He hung his head. "I know. Mine wouldn't either."

"But she doesn't know I'm awake," Katniss murmured.

They sat side by side.

"If we were in Twelve, I would show you our meadow."

Her eyes sparkled. "What's a meadow?"

"Green grass. Wildflowers. Stretching out before you. Blue sky. Yellow sunshine."

"That sounds beautiful."

"I'd make you peanut butter cookies."

She blushed. "I like peanut butter." The light in her eyes faded. "I hope there's a meadow in the Arena. I really want to see one."

They both knew they would never see Twelve together.

When the loss became too real, she stood and bid him goodnight. He tried to take her hand, but she refused and hurried to the door.

She stopped to look back at him. "I..."

She turned and he heard her footsteps retreating into nothingness.

* * *

Portia gripped his hand as he waited to enter the launch tube. He couldn't stop shaking.

"Portia?" he whispered.

"Yes, honey?"

"I'm – thank you. I." He started to cry again. She swept him into her arms. She smelled like cinnamon and apples. He thought of his mother.

The announcement was unnervingly jolly. "Tributes to the tubes."

"It's time to go, honey."

A strange calm came over him. He wiped his eyes. He smiled at her. "Thank you. I've never been on fire before." he laughed to his stylist.

"I'm so glad to have met you." she whispered. She kissed his forehead and guided him to the launch tube.

He took a deep breath.

The floor began to rise.

The first thing he saw was her. She was directly to his right. He smiled at her.

She looked surprised. In a good way.

The countdown began.

"Ten."

He took in the circle.

"Nine."

The clever girl was to his left.

"Eight."

Cato was six pads to the right.

"Seven."

He couldn't see Rue.

"Six."

She was pointing to the woods stretching beyond the Cornucopia.

"Five."

He frowned and cocked his head.

"Four."

She pointed again.

"Three."

He shook his head in bewilderment.

"Two."

She looked toward Cato.

"One."

She leapt off the pad as he stepped calmly down. She launched herself at him. She caught his jacket and pulled him on top of her. She dragged his hands to her throat. "Run to the woods," she whispered as she feigned a struggle. "Go. Run."

He was still reeling in confusion. She rolled over on top of him and hit him hard in the arm. She pushed off him and he rolled to watch her run to the Cornucopia. The clever girl tripped over him and shrieked, taking off towards the tall grasses of the field.

Katniss ran towards Cato. Peeta saw Cato eyeing him darkly. Like a target.

Peeta ran to the woods.

* * *

He was cold and tired. The noises of the night frightened him, but he didn't want the cameras to see that he'd never slept outside.

Clove surely had. She would be showing her strength: shooting animals, murdering children.

He was seeking berries and water. It was too dark to look for food, he knew that. But he was so very hungry. It had been over a day since the launch. He'd only spotted the flash of a child's coat in all that time, but he kept moving before the Gamemakers found a way to trap and kill him. He'd only ranked an 8; he knew he was expendable.

She'd ranked a 10. He'd gazed at her face on the screen until Clove's derisive laughter had driven him to his room.

Haymitch had nearly kicked in his door after Clove explained why she was so amused.

"What the hell are you thinking?" he'd yelled. "She's been training to kill for years." He made Peeta swear to forget any notion of her sparing his life and promise that he'd do whatever it took to survive.

He'd agreed. He knew it was a lie. He expected Haymitch had known that too. He wasn't a killer. And he couldn't make himself become one.

He found the hollowed rock about an hour after he accepted he'd never find food in the pitch black. He crawled inside and stepped on something soft. The shriek made him tumble backwards out onto his back.

He thought the chirruping cries sounded familiar. "Rue?"

A small sniffle echoed out of the rock. "Peeta?"

She crawled out carefully. He could see the bloody tear on her pants leg. It explained why she wasn't secured in a tree for the night. She began to cry as soon as the moonlight hit her face. He held out his arms and she ran to him.

"Shhh," he whispered. "It's okay. I won't let anything happen to you."

He climbed into the rock and she followed. He pulled her into his lap and leaned back in the cramped space.

"Is your leg badly hurt?" he whispered.

"Not too bad. It's sore," she told him. "Clove nearly hit me."

He bristled, thinking of Clove taking aim at Rue as though she were a spring fawn and not a twelve-year-old child.

"I'm sorry I stepped on you."

She giggled. "It's okay. The girl from Two stepped on me earlier."

He tried to not seem too eager. Haymitch was surely watching.

He wanted to ask. He nearly didn't. But he had to know if she was who he thought she was.

"Did she see you?" he asked.

He felt Rue nod against his chest in the darkness. "She told me to keep quiet. That her partner and the mean girl were nearby. She led them away."

He felt relief like cool water. His hunger abated and the aches eased for a just a moment as his heart warmed.

"I like her." It was quiet, but he heard Rue say it.

"I do too," he smiled. Haymitch was probably fuming. He hoped this didn't cut off any help coming his way.

"We should help her."

"Help her?"

"Get away from those mean Careers. We should find her," Rue twisted to look up at Peeta. "They'll kill her. The big one told the mean girl he'd kill Katniss."

Peeta gritted his teeth. "We'll help her."

* * *

By the light of the day, the wound on Rue's leg was not as frightening. It was a scratch, but had bled profusely when she had run hard to escape Clove's arrows. Peeta regrettably found himself hoping to see Clove's twisted face in the sky at night.

They found the river that fed into the lake and drank from an area filtered over the choppy rocks and boulders. Rue showed him how she'd learned to catch a fish using a fabric net and he built a small, hot fire to cook the fish quickly before they fled the tell-tale smoke for a safe place to eat.

He picked some wild blueberries, breaking the skin and sniffing them carefully. He tasted them in front of her nervous gaze. He smiled. "They're just blueberries, Rue."

She sighed in relief. He dropped a handful into her palm. She ate greedily.

"I've never eaten so much all at once," she grinned, rubbing her swollen belly.

"We've hardly eaten anything!" he laughed.

"I know," she smiled. "But I have to share with my brothers and sister. It doesn't last very long."

"How many siblings do you have?"

"I have three younger brothers and a baby sister. She's five months old tomorrow."

Peeta whistled. "That's a lot of kids."

"I love kids!" Rue exclaimed. "I want a lot." Her face suddenly fell. "I mean – I wanted a lot."

He watched her. It was hurtful. He knew the truth. So did she. She most likely would not survive, even with his best efforts. He tried changing the subject.

"I have two brothers. They're both older than me."

"You're the baby?" Rue smiled, happy to find a new topic. "You seem very grown up for the baby."

"It's a lot of work running a bakery," he told her. "I had to grow up pretty fast."

Rue wrinkled her nose and played at being shy. "Do you have a girlfriend? At home?"

He blushed. "No."

"Will you be my boyfriend? Just for now?"

He blinked in surprise. "I'm a little bit old for you," he told her gently.

"I know," she giggled. "It's just for pretend. I just," she hedged. "I've never had a boyfriend."

"You don't need one." he chided.

"I know I don't need one," she smiled. "But it would have been nice."

She played with her curly hair. He sighed. "Okay. Just for pretend, though."

She hopped up and hugged him. "Thank you! I don't think Katniss will mind."

He started and decided to pretend he didn't hear her. Even if he did survive now, Haymitch would surely kill him.

Rue felt well enough to climb the tree that night so she went first and guided him as he followed. He could tell she wished she was higher, but the branches couldn't support his weight after fifty feet. She showed him how to tuck inside the crux of the off-shoots so they wouldn't tumble down when they drifted off to sleep.

She shivered and he unzipped his coat to wrap around her as she huddled her bony limbs against him.

"You're a good pretend boyfriend," she told him. He chuckled tiredly.

"You're my first girlfriend," he told her.

"Really? But you're so nice!"

He smiled. "Thank you. But I worked a lot; I didn't have time to go out with girls at home."

"Well," Rue said bitterly, "after getting to know Clove I don't think you were missing anything."

He laughed out loud and covered his mouth. "Sorry," he whispered, but she was grinning too. They settled into a pleasant silence.

"Peeta?" she whispered as the anthem started.

"Yes?"

"I want you to win."

"Don't say that, Rue." He kept his voice low to let the pompous music overwhelm their conversation. "I don't want to kill anyone. Not even Cato."

"I know. I don't want to kill anyone either. But of all of us, I hope it's you."

She nestled closer. He squeezed the tears away and tried to sleep.

* * *

"Rue?"

"Mmmph," she grumbled as he rocked her shoulder.

"Rue," he smiled. "I'm really hungry; I need to find some food."

She blinked sleepily and stretched in their tree. "Five more minutes."

"Okay," he said, squeezing her shoulder. "Stay put, all right? Don't go anywhere."

"I won't, Peeta." she sighed. She was snoring before he was three branches down. He chuckled to himself. He wondered if Katniss snored.

He didn't want to wander too far with his precious charge sleeping in the tree, but hunger drove him further and further to find food. They needed to eat.

He circled the area around their tree slowly, sweeping outward. He found what appeared to be a few acorns and collected them into his pockets. He picked at what he hoped were mint leaves. He wished he'd had more time to learn edible plants. There had been too much to learn. Too much to fear.

He could have cried with relief when he found the berry bush. He started to pick quickly.

A rustle nearby spun him around.

He got low and waited. He peered into the trees. Nothing. No one.

He started to collect the berries again. He felt like he was not alone. He only had a handful when he felt compelled to run.

He hurried from the clearing. He spun around.

There was no one.

He shook his head and chuckled at himself quietly. He would be his own undoing, he decided. He smiled and threw a berry up in the air, to try to catch it in his mouth.

He missed. It rolled away. He shook his head again.

He launched another berry in the air.

The cannon fired.

He froze.

The knife had split the berry through the center. The berry had fallen when the knife lodged in the tree bark just in front of his nose. Twin trails of blood red juice dripped down either side of the blade.

He turned slowly, waiting for the next dagger to pierce his flesh.

She was fifteen feet away. Her grey eyes were on the body that had fallen from behind the tree and landed at her feet. He could see the rich red berry juice on the red-haired girl's lips as she stared at the trees and saw nothing.

"Those aren't blueberries," Katniss said quietly.

They stared at one another.

When it was too much, she turned and walked away. He chased after her before the hovercraft came for the body.

She let him catch up and they walked in silence. He stared at the bandage taped behind her ear.

"The girl from Four wasn't quite dead," she whispered. "Her nails…Cato finished her."

Her face was ashen. He felt sick. He realized he was still holding a handful of berries. He shoved them in his pocket.

She stopped. She was looking down. He saw his easily recognizable footsteps in the dirt. "Cover your tracks." she murmured.

He nodded, embarrassed.

She looked towards the way she'd come. "I have to go back to them now."

"He'll kill you."

She nodded. "He'll try. I just have to be faster."

"Katniss-"

"I have to try."

"Katniss, please!"

"Please don't," she stomped her foot. She covered her face. "Please don't."

He watched her fight the memories of what had passed these few days in the Arena. He touched her arm very, very gently. "I can't help it," he whispered. "When I saw you. I can't help it."

She looked up at him. Her eyes were pained. "You have to. I have to."

"Why?" he asked. He felt desperation well up like madness. "We're going to die! Why not?"

She wanted to speak. To say anything. But she couldn't. She turned to leave. He grabbed her shoulders. He kissed her.

She yielded to his grasp, melting into him with abandon.

"I can't!" she broke away. She stared at him. She kissed him again, binding him in her arms.

"Peeta!"

Rue's scream echoed around them. It bounded off the trees and stampeded through his lungs.

They were both running towards her.

Katniss reached the clearing. Peeta was behind her.

Cato reached the other side. Glimmer was behind him. Cato saw Katniss with him.

Clove was raising the arrow and taking aim between them.

"No!" screamed Peeta.

Clove was startled. She missed Rue.

She hit the weak branch that supported the tracker jacker nest they had not seen among the leaves. The branch Rue was leaning on. The branch that was supporting her minute weight.

It was as though it happened in slow motion.

He began to run towards the falling branch and tumbling girl, but the shaft of a spear grazing his shoulder made Katniss kick his legs out from underneath him. He was on his back. He watched Rue fall from the sky.

The nest exploded as it reached the earth. Listening to Clove's screams he was grateful the impact had killed the little girl and not the terrible creatures devouring his District partner.

The sharp pinch on his arm revealed the golden-bodied insects had noticed him and Katniss. She swatted one away from her leg and grabbed his arm. They ran.

He swatted a tracker jacker from her hair. It bit his hand. She pushed one from his cheek. It bit her arm.

Neither saw the fallen tree. They fell over it in a tumble of limbs and hallucinations.

He listened to her screams become Rue's screams. He saw her fearful, wide, dark eyes watching him as she fell. Pleading. Accusing. Clove melting and bursting before him.

His father. His mother. Setting fires. Becoming fires. Katniss. The knife in her heart. Blood on his hands.

Then all was darkness.

* * *

His hands were gripping something. They ached. He must have been holding on for a long time. His arms and shoulders hurt. He opened his eyes.

He could only see black. But it wasn't night. He blinked. He pulled his face back from her jet black hair. It had come loose and was tangled with leaves. He stared. She looked like the trees had adorned her with gifts.

Her face was still pale but her eyelids fluttered. Her lips were dark. He thought maybe they were bruised. He wanted to kiss them. Her eyes opened.

She stared at him for a long time. He didn't look away.

"Your friend?" she asked weakly.

"She's gone." he whispered.

"I'm sorry."

He nodded. "Cato saw you with me."

She nodded. "I can't go back now."

He swept a leaf from her hair. "I don't want you to."

She watched him stroke her hair. She let him kiss her.

They found the hollow rock again and crawled painfully inside. They were aching and hungry. They let their limbs intertwine to fit together inside the small hollow. The anthem began. Rue's beautiful smile was seen for the last time. He finally saw Clove in the sky, but all that came to him was pity.

He rolled so his lips were against her ear. "Can I hold you?"

When the montage of death was finished, Panem watched the boy from District Twelve and the girl from District Two fall asleep cradled in each other's arms.

* * *

He showed her how Rue had made the fabric net and she struggled with the knots. "I could throw a knife at a fish faster." she frowned.

"You probably could." he agreed.

He collected water in Clove's lost canteen. She looked surprised when he handed it to her first. She smiled as she drank. When she passed it back to him their fingers brushed.

He watched her braid back her hair and tie it with twine from her backpack.

"Where is Cato?"

"He and Glimmer will be back with the supplies."

"At the Cornucopia?"

She nodded.

"Is he...were you-"

"No."

He couldn't hide his smile.

"I wasn't with Clove."

"I didn't think so."

He nearly laughed.

"I think my brother would have liked her," she shrugged. "She was not afraid to speak her mind."

"Like we are?"

Her hands stilled. "It's not the same." she whispered.

"Not in the same way, maybe. But...the same," he said. He slumped down to sit on the rocks by the water's edge. "I just keep asking why now?"

She knelt down by him. "Why at all?"

"You'd rather we never met?"

She nodded. "Then it wouldn't..."

"I know."

They listened to the water falling over the boulders, smoothing edges and turning pebbles.

"My brother always told me not to think of it. Because I was never of age. He'd say no point until you're out of the Reaping. I see why he thought that now."

"Is he older or younger?"

"My brother? A year older. Yours?"

"Four and two years older."

"What are their names?"

"Rye and Kirsh. Yours?"

"Gale. We look like twins."

"I look like my father. My brothers look like my mother."

"I think we look like my father. I don't know."

"I'm sure you're prettier than your father."

She laughed. He grinned. He didn't care if the viewers thought this was silly. He didn't care if Haymitch was seething at the monitor. He didn't care if his brothers were joking sadly about his awkward flirtations. He had to know everything. He had to tell her everything.

"Do you like music?"

"Music," she pondered. "I've never really had much time for it. Do you?"

"I like it. I'm not much of a singer. I like dancing. But I'm not much of a dancer, either." he blushed.

"I like dancing," she smiled. "I love to move."

"You move beautifully. I love the way you run."

"I love how your hands move. You have beautiful hands."

He smiled at his hands. He looked at hers.

She eyed him curiously. "Do you feel as though we've met before?"

"It's not - quite like that," he thought aloud. "It's as though I've been waiting for you. Like we were supposed to meet-"

"For lunch-"

"Or a walk."

"And I was late-"

"I missed the train."

"That's it," she nodded. She stared at him. "What does it mean?"

He smiled at her.

She tried to show him how to throw knives, but he was no good. She set him in charge of foraging, but with strict instructions not to eat anything until they both could examine the food together. He agreed. It was nice to be worried over.

They made a game of who could catch more fish with a net or a knife. He won. He thought she might have let him.

She was quiet as they ate their catch. He asked for her thoughts.

"They'll be waiting for us now."

"At the Cornucopia?"

She nodded. "Now that Cato knows I have you, he'll know-" she stopped herself.

"That you'll need supplies from the Cornucopia. Because I can't hunt or collect food the way you can. I'm a liability for you." It hurt to finally understand.

She didn't tell him it wasn't true, but she did stop his self-blame. "It doesn't matter anymore, Peeta. It's you and me and Cato and Glimmer. It doesn't matter at all anymore."

The final four. Now the Gamemakers would be after them too.

"You should stay hidden," she finally said. "I'll go find him. Say I wounded you and left you to die."

"You wouldn't come back."

"I would!"

"No you wouldn't. If you thought it would keep me safe you'd stay until he killed you." He could see she had thought of it too. "We go together. We're together now."

She smiled at him. He felt warm again.

As the evening fell, they climbed into the water although it wouldn't offer that much privacy. They swam to the spot between the two boulders where there was a ledge to obscure most of the cameras' view. He didn't think they'd really show what they were planning on television anyway.

It was difficult in the water. He'd really wanted to see all of her, but she knew her brother would be watching and be upset for her, so they stayed in the water.

She gasped and clutched at his arms, but didn't want to stop. He held onto her and trembled while he tried to hold back for her.

"I love you." he whispered.

"I love you." She kissed him.

"I've been waiting so long for you."

They slept curled around one another in the hollow. He knew the morning would surely bring punishment from the Gamemakers. The Gamemakers wanted control, had to show Panem they were the ones in control; not the passions of two sixteen year olds chosen to die.

He dreamt of lying with her in the meadow under the warm sun. He wiped the crumbs of peanut butter cookies from her cheek. She laughed and kissed his fingers.

He slipped out of the hollow while she was sleeping.

* * *

He hiked along the paths where he could spy his own footprints in the soft earth. He didn't know if he could get back to the Cornucopia in one day; if she'd wake up and come after him, try to stop him, try to sacrifice herself instead.

But he had to try.

He realized he traveled in a circle when he emerged from the tree line into tall grasses. He remembered the fox-faced girl who had run into the grasses after she tripped over him stepping off her launch pad. He glanced around for a moment before he remembered the blood red berry juice coating her lips and her sightless eyes. He shuddered and walked through the grasses.

The day was beautiful. The grass smelled sweet. He sighed. He tried to believe it was a good day to die. He could hear mockingjays calling in the trees. They sounded as though they were trying to mimic her laughter. But they could never be as perfect as that music.

He thought of her eyes and finally broke.

"Why now?" He cried and fell to his knees. Why now? When they had so little time. When he wanted forever. "Why now?" he asked the sun.

He climbed to his feet again. It was now because it had to be. Now because he had to save her. He stumbled on. He could see the flashes of light bouncing off the hammered metal of the Cornucopia in the distance. It made him tired.

He crouched low as he reached the edge of the grassy expanse. His hair would blend into the straw reeds. He peered across the field.

He could see Glimmer immediately. She was standing behind where Cato sat on a supply crate, sharpening his sword. She was watching him work. Peeta imagined she was coming to understand that blade would find her neck soon enough. She was fiddling with something in her hands. A knife? A rock? Peeta looked harder. She seemed to be looking toward him.

When the light glinted again, he realized she was looking at him. With binoculars.

"Cato!"

Peeta spun around and crashed into Thresh.

He'd forgotten about Thresh. Caught up in his rage at Cato and Glimmer and their plans to kill his beloved.

His scream brought Cato and Glimmer faster. He heard their calls and shouts of laughter that he'd fallen so easily into their plan. Thresh swung hard at him. He rolled to the side, but the blow to his ribs took him down. Thresh caught Peeta by his neck.

He started to lift him off the earth by his throat. Peeta gasped. His eyes stared down at Thresh.

"Sorry, Twelve," he apologized, holding him aloft. "I have to take care of my grandparents and nieces. I have to go home."

Peeta wished he could nod; that he understood, but instead all he could do was kick Thresh as hard as he could in his stomach. Thresh dropped Peeta in surprise.

Peeta struggled away, waiting to feel the hands around his neck again.

The whirring noise was unexpected. Thresh gasped. Peeta didn't recognize the star-shaped projectile now lodged between his eyes, but it was ornate and beautiful in its deadliness. He could be sure Glimmer had grown up hurling them.

He had to scramble to his feet to get out of the way as Thresh's body collapsed and the cannon sounded. He heard the whirring noise again. He spun to the left and his earlobe stung.

He could feel the blood dripping down his neck as he ran. He could still hear, so he guessed it was only the lobe he'd lost. He wasn't planning to stop and check.

They were getting close. Cato was calling for Glimmer to throw another star.

Peeta spun on his heel and dove to the right. He heard the whirring noise close to his head. He cursed as he cut back and forth across the field. He had to get to the trees, he thought. Just to the trees. Then he could think of something.

But they were getting closer. He realized as the fourth star cut his shirt that he was not going to make it.

And then she was there.

Still as stone. Her hand crowned with a knife. She raised it as he ran towards her.

It flew past his face.

Cato's shout was full of rage. The cannon blasted as Glimmer's heart was stopped by the knife.

Katniss grabbed Peeta's hand and they disappeared into the woods.

* * *

She had started hitting him after a mile.

They'd been running even after Cato's threats and curses had faded into the distance. They reached a patch of rocks and fallen trees that formed a low wall. She jumped over it and he followed.

They pressed their back against the earth wall and tried to catch their breath.

"How could you?" She startled him with her cries. She raised her fists and started to beat on his chest. "You left me alone!"

He caught her hands. "I had to try."

She closed her eyes. "I heard the first cannon while I was running...I thought-" she broke off.

"Thresh."

"It felt like I died," she whispered. She opened her eyes. "You can't do that again."

"I can't anyway," he promised wistfully. "He's waiting for me now."

* * *

The walk back through the woods was tense and silent in the early afternoon. Her eyes darted back and forth, looking for any movement. He stretched and strained his neck listening for footfalls or movement.

But they found nothing. They kept walking in a long, lazy loop around the boundary of the clearing, hidden within the woods.

They had to take him soon. Much longer and the audience would grow bored. They'd be set upon by muttations. Or weather. Or any number of horrors to make sure one was eliminated. He watched her move like a wild cat, anxious and alive.

"I won't have you do it, Katniss."

She stopped and lowered the knife she gripped in her hand. "What?"

"If it comes down to us. I'll do it myself," he offered.

The dagger tumbled from her hand. The blood drained from her face. "Peeta, no."

"I don't want you to have to do it," he told her softly. He picked up the knife and handed it back to her. "I'll use one of your knives...if that's okay."

"It's not," she breathed.

"Katniss, there can only be one victor."

"Then let it be you," she said. He heard the strain in her voice. Her eyes were growing pink as she struggled to keep calm.

He was going to argue, but she threw her arms around him and let herself cry, truly as she wanted, for the first time. Even with her nose running he thought she was beautiful. She laughed through her tears when he told her so.

"Maybe he'll kill us both," she whispered desperately. "Maybe we can die together."

* * *

They found the dip in the underbrush of the thicket just as light was starting to fail. She slipped down inside, guiding him in behind her. They curled into one another. He toyed with her hair while they watched the supplies Cato had set up in a tempting pile to lure them out. She had said he'd be ready for her. He knew how good she was. He'd have a plan.

They tried to think of a plan, but there were few options left. If they waited too long they would be fighting the Gamemakers and Cato. They wanted to take on one at a time.

But that was not their choice to make.

The growling and howls were not so far off. Close enough that they knew they had to run.

He tore through the thorns clawing at his face and arms to shield her following after him. She handed him one of the knives from her vest and took a longer one from her pocket. They spun around, trying to find the source of the terrible cries.

"It's all around us." he said.

"It's echoing. They're amplifying it." she whispered.

A snarl that seemed to come from under their feet set them running. "The Cornucopia!" she cried.

"We'll get on top!" he called as they ran.

She let herself run straight into the side. She clambered up the metal wall, reaching for his hands to pull him up after her while he still pushed her up the side frantically. He followed her.

He was pulled back down by the teeth trapping his boot.

She screamed when she saw the creature. He shouted when he saw the others descending upon them in a circle from every corner of the forest. She wrapped her arms and legs around his body to hold him on the golden horn while he tore the laces loose and let the animal take the boot.

His bare foot pushed back against the smooth metal and they inched carefully up the horn. He could feel her shaking behind him as they watched the monsters gnash their teeth and stalk them with their frightening eyes. The eyes they knew. He saw Clove. He saw Rue.

He pulled away and crawled to the rim to wretch and gag.

"It's not them," she whispered from behind him. Her hand was gentle on his shoulder. "It's not. The bodies are always intact, Peeta. They can't-"

When she stopped speaking suddenly, he turned around.

Cato's fingers were bloody around her pale throat in the moonlight.

"You would betray Two for an outlier?" he growled. The blood from where the teeth had nicked his flesh dripped in a little trail and puddled around their feet. "You would forsake our District for him?"

She gasped. She pulled as his fingers. She whispered, "Yes."

Peeta's weight into his wounded side made Cato scream in agony. She fell into a heap, choking for air sprawled on the cold metal. The dagger she'd given Peeta flashed in the moonlight as he pulled it from his belt. She couldn't call out.

Peeta slashed at Cato futilely. The boy who'd grown up for this moment laughed at the boy who'd grown up to bake.

"You think you're going to win this?" Cato caught Peeta's wrist and rolled on top of him. He slammed the baker's hand against the metal.

"You think you're going to live happily ever after?" He slammed the knife hand again.

"You don't get happily ever after, Twelve!" He slammed Peeta's wrist hard and twisted the bones. Peeta cried out as the knife fell from his hand and over the side. He heard the mutts scavenge, licking, hoping some of his blood came with it.

Cato's hands were at his throat now. The air was all around and inaccessible. Bright spots of lightning danced in front of Peeta's eyes while he tried to free himself. His fingertips and exposed toes grew cold.

Cato's smile was frozen on his face. The gripping hands were stilled. Slightly loosened. The smile began to fade. His expression grew confused. He stared at the silver knife tip protruding from his chest.

"Katniss?" he asked quietly.

Peeta could see her behind Cato now, her blade in his heart.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I had to."

He seemed to nod. As though he had always known too.

He fell.

Katniss still held the blade, red with his blood. She looked away.

The cannon fired.

The mutts snarled.

She slumped down to the cold metal. He sat up and moved over to her.

They sat in silence. The night was a blanket of stars overhead. It was a gentle breeze that cooled them while their racing hearts began to calm. She listened to his breathing. He watched her hair lift and float in the air.

"It's just us now." He didn't need to say it.

She nodded. They listened to the evening.

He took her hand. "I love you."

"I love you," she smiled weakly. "I love you. I love you."

He pulled her into his arms. They listened to the mutts retreat, beckoned by an unheard call. He leaned back against Cornucopia and pulled her on top of him.

"They'll send something," she whispered.

"In the morning," he told her. "They'll wait."

She nodded. "If I had known...if I knew...we...this was possible. I wouldn't have volunteered either."

"But then we wouldn't have met," he smiled.

She stretched her neck to look up at him. "Maybe this was our destiny, then. This short time."

He stroked her hair. "We didn't need so much time after all."

He kissed her.

* * *

While she slept he pulled the berries from his pocket. He rolled them in his fingers, feeling the small round orbs yield to the gentle pressure. The sun was coming up over the lake and the sky was a beautiful pearly blue.

He brushed his lips against her forehead.

She woke and lifted her face to his. "I love you."

He stroked her hair. "I love you."

She nodded peacefully. "It's time."

He dropped three berries in his mouth.

She sat up slowly at the cannon. She gazed down at his sightless eyes. They reflected the light of the breaking morning. She smiled at his serene face.

As the sound of the hovercraft drew near, she pressed her lips to his.

She buried her dagger in her heart.

* * *

He was waiting for her in a meadow full of golden flowers.

* * *

After the year-long war, after the Capital finally fell, it was her brother who decided the memorial should be dedicated to them both. After all, it was their love that gave them a year with no victor. It was their compassion that showed all of Panem that no one needed to die.

And so their portraits were carved into stone overlooking the lake where they chose to let love rule them. Flowers and berries were found strewn around their stone boots each and every morning in offerings of gratitude. It passed into legend that if a young lover proposed at their feet, the union would be forever blessed.

And they watched over the new world together, for the rest of time.


End file.
